The reasoning behind the exclusion of “real time” from the Electoral Bill for 2026 has been revealed by Senator Opeyemi Bamidele, who represents the Ekiti State District.
In a statement released on Sunday through his Directorate of Media and Public Affairs, he provided clarification on this matter.
According to Bamidele, Clause 60(3), which required the presiding officer to “shall electronically transmit the results from each polling unit to the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV) in real time…” was earlier rejected by the Senate.
After then, they rewrote the section to remove the “real time” requirement but keep the electronic transfer of results.
If any legislative or parliament on the planet had been in Bamidele’s shoes, they would have accepted Clause 60(3). Before making a judgement, the Senate, he said, had to take the country’s infrastructure into account.
Bamidele cited statistics from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) that showed internet penetration at 44.53% of the population and broadband coverage at around 70% in 2025.
He used data from the Speedtest Global Index, which ranks Nigeria at 129th place out of 150 nations for fixed broadband reliability and 85th place out of 105 for mobile network reliability.
The speedtest global index reported that the reliability of Nigeria’s mobile network was 44.14 Mbps. In comparison to the United Arab Emirates (691.76 mbps), Qatar (573.53 mbps), Kuwait (415.67 mbps), Bahrain (303.21 mbps), and Bulgaria (289.41 mbps), this is incredibly low. Nigeria was ranked significantly lower than the world average in the Index.
According to international benchmarks, Nigeria’s fixed internet broadband ranking is relatively poor. With a speed of just 33.32 mbps, Nigeria ranked 129th out of 150 nations.
“According to this ranking, Singapore took first place with 410.06 mbps, followed by the UAE with 382.35 mbps, France with 346.25 mbps, Chile with 348.41 mbps, and Hong Kong with 345.25 mbps,” he claimed.
He went on to say that almost 43% of Nigerians, or 85 million people, do not have access to the national power grid.
Our electrical infrastructure is in a sorry state, as this deficit shows. We have a generation capacity of about 12,000 to 13,500 MW, but we have a severely constrained distribution and transmission capability.
Its maximum output to homes in the country is 4,500 MW, which is common knowledge. Our electricity sector will experience substantial growth beginning with this fiscal year, thanks to the Electricity Act, 2025,” the congressman noted.
Bamidele expressed concern that implementing real-time transmission in such a setting could cause instability.
Instead of appealing to feelings or opinions, the numbers reveal the cold, hard truth of our federation. He made it clear that lawmakers cannot let popular opinion dictate legislation.
The Senate leader claims that by doing away with “real time” we can make sure that the election framework is practical for Nigeria and that public concerns about transparency are adequately addressed.